Ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction, Royal Challengers Banglore's (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday assured the fans that the side will build a very strong outfit for the 2020 tournament.
RCB's official Twitter handle posted a video of Kohli and captioned the post as: "All set for the #IPLAuction? The Captain has a message for you.@imVkohli #ViratKohli #BidForBold #IPL2020 #PlayBold".
"As you all know for the upcoming season, the auction is coming up. I want all of you to rally behind the team and the management. Mike Hesson and Simon Katich are doing a tremendous job. We have had few discussions to build the team around the strong core that we have," Kohli said in the video.
"We assure you that we are going to cover all the bases that are required and build a very strong team for the upcoming 2020 season," he added.
Ahead of the auction, RCB released 12 players from their lineup while they retained 13.
Here is the list of RCB's released and retained players:
Released: Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetymer, Akshdeep Nath, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin De Grandhomme, Prayas Ray Barman, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Himmat Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Chama Milind, Dale Steyn.
Retained: Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini.
Earlier this year, RCB appointed former Kiwi coach Mike Hesson as the director of cricket, while Simon Katich was given the role of coach.
On December 13, it was announced that a total of 332 cricketers will be auctioned in Kolkata on December 19 for the 13th edition of the IPL.
While 997 players had initially registered, the final list has been pruned after the eight franchises submitted their list of shortlisted players.
Seven overseas players - Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Dale Steyn, and Angelo Mathews - have opted to be slotted in the highest bracket (Rs 2 crore).
Robin Uthappa is the only Indian player with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and Jaydev Unadkat have set their base price at Rs 1 crore.
A total of 186 Indian players, 143 overseas players and three players from Associate Nations will be auctioned. Hugh Edmeades will be the auctioneer.
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